NEW DELHI: Despite the good bowling performance by Delhi Daredevils that limitedSunrisers Hyderabad to 146 for eight in Match 42 of the 2016 Indian Premier League, Delhi had to bat really well to overhaul the par score as they were up against the best bowling unit in the tournament consisting of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman. The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad is not overly conducive for fast bowling, yet the pacers enjoy a lion's share of wickets at this ground, and if that boded well for SRH quicks, it was ominous signs for Quinton de Kock and Co.

But Delhi managed to blunt SRH's incisive bowling attack led by none other than de Kock himself at the top by handing Delhi a healthy start. Young turks Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson then capitalised on the good start and chased down the target with such maturity that belied their age to take Delhi to a seven-wicket win and to the third place in the standings. SRH too had started well with skipper David Warnerand Shikhar Dhawan combining for a 67-run opening stand, however the fragile middle-order failed to carry on from there on and that eventually made the difference in the outcome of the match.

With Delhi jolted by a double-strike by Moises Henriques (2/19) in the 10th over in which he removed set batsmen de Kock and Karun Nair, Pant and Samson joined forces scoring an unbeaten 72 runs off 50 balls to take their team home with 11 balls to spare. Taking on the likes of Nehra, Mustafizur and Bhuvneshwar, the duo took their chances and did not succumb to the pressure. From 78 for 3, they ensured Delhi did not lose anymore wickets, while SRH, after being 80 for one in 10 overs, lost seven wickets for just 66 runs.

Pant had shown glimpses of his potential during his 40-ball 69-run knock against Gujarat Lions and on Thursday, the Delhi batsman put on another stellar show reaffirming his talent. SRH bowler Mustafizur has been the toughest customer to deal this IPL, and Pant took apart the Bangladesh bowler scoring 26 runs off 13 balls he faced from the bowler, including two fours and two sixes - one of which was flick over deep midwicket that had Yuvraj Singh of 2011 written all over it. Samson provided good support to Pant with 34 off 26 balls.

Right from the outset de Kock and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal - playing his second game of the season - did not look overwhelmed by the in-form opening bowlers of SRH, taking 20 runs in the first three overs. However, Agarwal perished to Nehra for ten. In walked Karun Nair (27), and with de Kock he put on 55 for the second wicket in just 37 balls. The bulk of the scoring was done by the South African who looked in sublime touch and pounced on every loose delivery that came his way. De Kock scored 44 off 31 balls before Pant and Samson took over.

Earlier, After Warner and Dhawan had combined for their fourth fifty plus stand this season, Delhi did well to contain in the latter part of the innings. Amit Mishrareturned with impressive figures of 3-0-19-2, while Chris Morris bagged the Man-of-the-Match award for his miserly spell of 4-0-19-1.

It was a rather uncharacteristic start by the Hyderabad openers after being put in to bat by Delhi's stand-in skipper JP Duminy - regular captain Zaheer Khan was benched owing to a niggle - with the duo scoring just 11 runs in the first three overs, but they upped the ante taking Hyderabad to 51 for 0 in the powerplay overs.

Duminy rotated his bowlers in search of a wicket and the first breakthrough was given by Jayant (4-0-32-1) when the Haryana offspinner got the better of Warner with a slightly quicker and fuller delivery that Warner thought was there to be cut, only to realise that the ball was too close for that shot. He was castled for a well made 46 off 30 balls. Dhawan was joined by Kane Williamson in the middle and Duminy, Mishra and Morris did well to keep a check on the run-rate. With runs not coming easily, Dhawan (34) went for a slog and was foxed by a Mishra flipper. Between overs 11 to 17, SRH struggled and managed only 32 runs, and that rut eventually proved fatal for Hyderabad.